Tidal Rave Festival, an annual youth cultural festival, welcomed a little over 20,000 Ravers to mark the 10th edition of the festival in Ghana. The festival, which was dubbed ‘The New Rave’, featured a host of experiences geared toward making Ravers live through endless fun.
While the Tidal Rave Stage played host to almost every big named artiste in the country, including Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, Samini, King Promise, KiDi, Efya as well as young talents such as Lasmid, Kofi Mole, Yhaw Hero, Big Moon, AlorG, Demmi, Whitnee D, Mass Melo, among others, the festival was also setting a blueprint that touches on the sustainability of festivals.
Currently, most festivals – such as Tidal Rave Festival – are funded by brand sponsorship and ticket sales. With ticket price points hovering around GH¢200 and GH¢500 for most of the festivals, a significant amount of the money needed to put up the festival is realised through brand sponsorship.
This places a responsibility on the event organiser to ensure the brand derives as much value from the festival as possible by gaining the maximum exposure and impact from the sponsorship. In most cases, the easy way out is logo placement. Brand the artwork enough with the brand’s logo. Pull out the telescopic flags and dust off the teardrops. If there is a branded marquee…. even better. However, brands are also realising the need to give their consumers an experience whenever they sponsor an event.
This becomes essential, especially as festival attendees only reflect on the experiences and memories created at the event and mostly forget the design of the flier and the logos placed on the flier. The same can be said about the telescopic flags lined up in front of the festival grounds.
That is why at Tidal Rave Festival, all the sponsoring brands had their own unique experiential activity. While others had the goal of engaging their existing consumers, others wanted to not only build a new consumer base, but also capitalise on the unique features of Tidal Rave Festival to create a memorable experience for their consumers.
A Captain Morgan welcome
Case in point is the introduction of the new brand Captain Morgan to more than 20,000 Ravers at the festival. Playing on the power of a sound stage, Captain Morgan set up a ship deck at the festival and gave a complete seaman vibe to Ravers. On the ship deck, Ravers got the opportunity to have their first taste of Captain Morgan while also engaging with their favourite DJ and MC. This experience provided an additional layer of fun and excitement to the festival.
Black shines brightest
Guinness, for its part, set up a brighthouse at the festival, where consumers got to play various games and enjoy good music while also sipping on their favourite Guinness product.
Supporting the next set of business leaders
As a financial institution and a brand that wants to support the dream of young entrepreneurs, Absa Ghana’s core interest and consumer engagement was the Absa Ignition Market, previously known as the Vendor Market. Absa Ghana took up the cost of setting up the market such that the entrepreneurs did not have to pay the usual vendor fee they pay to sell at most events. Absa Ghana also went further to create a content experience zone where their consumers who were at the festival as Ravers could also hang out.
A treat for the rave
FanYogo just knew how to give a treat. The ice cream brand wanted every Raver to get a special treat; as such, they set up a team at the Trade Fair to do just that. After Ravers went through the process of scanning their QR codes and receiving a wristband that granted them access to the festival grounds, FanYogo gave them their official welcome to Tidal Rave 2023. All 20,000 plus Ravers experienced FanYogo’s treat as they received their FanYogo just before boarding a shuttle from the Trade Fair to the festival grounds. FanYogo was also on hand to continue giving Ravers several treats for the entire duration of the festival.
Closeup with Ravers
For CloseUp, it was another fun installation of bringing Ravers together, curating endless experiences and finding the perfect moments to be together while also raving with thousands of other Ravers. The toothpaste brand co-created a unique experience for their consumers who also happen to be Ravers.
It first started online, where consumers entered a challenge to take their date to the festival. Making sure it was a wholesome experience, CloseUp provided transportation to and from the festival; and while at the festival, they had their own play zone which featured a VR experience, a pit ball installation, and a host of other experiences that carry the brand messages of CloseUp.
Betway
Users of Betway have managed to build an organic community, whether it is at the neighborhood viewing centres or sharing tips online. At Tidal Rave, Betway brought these two worlds together. First, selected Betway users received a VIP invite to be at the festival. This invite came with a full-blown VIP treatment from the check-in to a Betway experience zone. At the zone, Betway had the opportunity to play some of the iconic Betway games and they came with all the amazing prices players win while playing those respective games. Basically, get a VIP treatment at Tidal Rave and win some more money while at it.
Fanta
The Tidal Rave Festival is characteristic of young people experiencing never-ending fun for long hours. This sets the scene to drive a snacking moment agenda and Fanta took this up. The beverage brand set up a Fanta Snack and Play Zone at the festival, serving as a recharge zone for Ravers. Taking minor breaks in between high rave moments, the Fanta Play Zone was the perfect place to get some snacks and get back into the rave mood with some of the games that were available in the play area.
Conclusion
These cocreating moments curated for all the Tidal Rave Festival sponsoring brands provided an alternative and impactful medium for the brands to engage their consumers, promote their brand messages, and even gain a new set of consumers. Going beyond logo placement and installations of branded materials by creating unique experiences is the most effective way for brands to leverage the festivals and events they sponsor.
